What is an average conversion rate?

There has been much debate about what an average level of conversion is. The following conversion rates are a compilation of data from a number of independent sources. We've also got some figures for the top online conversion rates taken from April 2005 from Nielsen//Netratings.

Below, the latest conversion rates from the Fireclick Index (made available to its clients). They're aggregated from Fireclick's actual Web analytics retail customers, spanning December 1, 2003, to March 1, 2004:

Companies with an optional and free registration process commonly get 2% - 3% of visitors to register. When added to buyers (who also have to register) companies frequently find they have the personal details of about 5% of visitors.

Free subscribers to paid subscriptions

Typically between 1% and 7% of registered users will convert to a paid service.

Sales/Visit (browse to buy)

A typical range would be 0.5%-8% depending on the sector, target market and quality of the site and proposition.

Within retail financial services online, for example, 1 - 2% would be typical with 2% being very good.

For retailers the high end can go up to 8% but this is exceptional and only the case for the very best pure-play e-tailers.

For a ´clicks to bricks´ e-commerce site targeting consumers you would more usually expect between 1% and 2% of visits to culminate in a sale with 5% representing ´best in class´.

Shop.Org - April 2000

Shop.Org indicates that the average conversion rate of their members' websites (visits resulting in a sale or sales lead) currently stands at about 1.8%. (State Of Online Retailing 3.0 - April 2000)